The Taylors are moving, and here is Allison’s “why”

Deciding to make this move was a stark equation of pushes and pulls: balancing a mix of things that draw us to Norway (it’s a great place to grow up, we can spend a lot of time outside), and things that push us away from the US (even if our country can course-correct, it might take Annalise’s entire working life to undo the damage).

During our sabbaticals, the Norwegian lifestyle has been a refreshing change of pace from the always-on culture of the DMV. We have worked reasonable hours, consistent with the “work to live” mindset in Trondheim. We have embraced the Scandinavian concept of friluftsliv, which roughly translates as “a life outdoors.” To an American, friluftsliv feels less like an activity and more like a collective philosophy—the quiet belief that a life well-lived requires being rooted in the natural world, regardless of the weather.

The second sabbatical was an especially good fit. Annalise was well-adjusted in her Norwegian school, Gavin enjoyed his colleagues at NTNU, and I liked the daytime freedom afforded by the six time zones between me and my colleagues. Nevertheless, we never envisioned a permanent move —the plan was to return to Annapolis in the summer of 2025 and do at least one more sabbatical in Trondheim when Annalise was older.

With this vision in mind, I hoped that the Naval Academy would fly under the radar as Trump took office a second time—even though Pete Hegseth was notoriously anti-education. That was not the case. The Administration tried to implement a Project 2025 recommendation stripping tenure from service academy civilian faculty, but Republicans failed to draft the legislation. Under the Department of Government Efficiency’s new mandate, Gavin had to email his weekly “five accomplishments” to Elon Musk. JAGs were debating whether the DoD’s new “Return to In-Person Work” policy meant Gavin would have to immediately leave Norway and report to his office on campus.

The transition back to the US hit hard on a personal level too. The immediate problem was a uniquely American one: childcare. While Norway has a universal afterschool and summer care program, America doesn’t have that luxury. So, we did what a lot of American families do and signed Annalise up for a patchwork of day camps. Since most camps are shorter than a workday, it was a juggling act to keep up with our jobs. Annalise takes her time making friends, and a week-long camp wasn’t long enough to do that. Considering this, we were relieved when she started her new school in August.

Then, in early September, the school went into lockdown for the first of two potential active shooters this year.  It was a stark, terrifying reminder of what we were asking our daughter to normalize.

So, what to do? For me, two factors weighed in favor of the move. One was aspirational: it would be a big adventure! The other was moral. I expect that Annalise and her peers will judge our generation by how we respond to this moment. I keep thinking about Dr. Martin Luther King’s warning that the greatest threat to progress isn’t outright hate, but moderates devoted to “order” rather than justice—those who prefer a “negative peace” without tension over a “positive peace” with justice. For me, staying in our comfort zone felt like accepting that negative peace. Choosing Norway is our way of stepping into the tension.

That doesn’t mean it was an easy decision. I wrestled with how to stay in relationship with our extended family. Annalise’s teacher described her as the most “family-oriented” kid in the class, always talking about her grandparents, aunt, uncles, and cousins. Likewise, she is a major source of joy in their lives too. The thought of moving her so far away from them seemed wrong for the long-term, even if everything else made the day-to-day preferable.

In an attempt to map out this challenge, I counted the number of days Annalise spends with her family in any given year and have the goal to find a way to still get to that with fewer but longer visits together. I hope we can. In the meantime, we’ve armed ourselves with friendship lamps and a time zone clock to help us stay emotionally connected day-to-day. I have tremendous gratitude for the grace our families have given us throughout this journey.

There is so much that’s beautiful about America and Americans. I hope we can be good ambassadors.